The Collinsport Chronicles XXXIV: Fire in the Sky
by Maryland Rose
Summary: What is the truth about the U.F.O. sightings around Collinsport?
1. Chapter 1

Hallie, who has become a phoenix has caused Willie's father, who found some of her secrets to burn to death. There has been a rash of U.F.O. sightings in Collinsport and Zeb King may have made contact with one of them. Adam was mind-napped by gypsies who made him believe that he is Andreas Romano - son of King Ruslan Romano - and whose body contributed to the constructin of Adam. Buffy Torrance is pregnant,

* * *

FIRE IN THE SKY

Chapter 1

"It's been a while you have come here. For this, I mean." Iris said..

"Too much between us" Barnabas said, apologetically.

"Yes. We did nothing but fight. Not always noisily, but there was always tension between us.. "

"It was not meant to be. I wanted more than you could give. And you wanted more than I could give."

"Yes. I am sorry about Peter. I should have never listened to Zeb King."

"He found you at vulnerable time. And I _am _George's lover."

"Yes." she dismissed the topic with a wave of her hand. "But Peter deserved better than to be made a pawn for brawling grownups... And he had no call to turn Peter to that horrible woman.. I can never forgive him for that."

Barnabas did not contradict her. Peter was the one casualty in this war between supposed adult.

"I want to get custody of him. Permanently. I want Violet's rights terminated."

"It will take some doing."

"George will help me. But it would be better if you got Violet to sign away her rights."

"She may not be willing to do so."

"You _can_ make her do it. Or at least convince her that she will not be released unless she signs those rights away."

He considered it. It was tempting. Take hold of Violet's mind, an make her sign. He could do it...

Except that there were certain ethics that came with his profession. And he did not have enough time nor enough experience to play loose with the rules. Not safely. It was too easy to break one rule, an then another, and another..."

"I will try. But there are now new guidelines for mental clinics, the Legislature is pressing for more control, and we can expect greater scrutinizing I don't want to give them reason to come looking into us..."

"You don't want to do it."

"I don't want to do anything that might cause an investigation and which might lead to Julia losing her license."

"But who would know?"

"They are tightening the oversight. I do not know what they are looking for, but anything that looks like we forced Violet to sign might trigger an investigation. I'd rather not be investigated by the State."

"Just say that you do not want to do it."

"Not the way you suggest. But we might find a way. We might get her to admit that he resents Peter, that indeed she hates him. If we get that admission for her, it will be a lot easier. We'd have a probable cause to deny her custody..."

"You are getting too scrupulous. lately."

"Just found out how much paperwork and regulation I have to deal with. I have to be more careful now that I am leaving a paper trail."

"Yes, I suppose you do." She threw her head to the side. "Well, go ahead. I know that you are hungry.:

Barnabas touched her throat with his lips, searching for the vein. She remembered her affair with him again. Could it have worked? Would it if she had been more willing to commit herself to him? It was too big a commitment... No, it was better that it was over...

Yet, in Barnabas' arms, feeling his mouth on her neck, she could almost fall in love with him again.

* * *

"Are you still worried? " Frank asked Buffy.

"Maybe I am just paranoid. Maybe it is just that I am going tom have my first baby, and I am scared."

"Well, Julia Hoffman Anderson has more right to be scared, and she seems to be taking it easy."

"In public. I know that when she is alone, she starts having all those doubts and fears."

"Well, according to your tests, you are going to have a healthy baby boy."

"But it takes so long for it to be born! Too many things can happen!"

"What things?"

"I don't know." She was silent for a few moments, then spoke again. "Do you remember Laura?"

Frank grimaced. "I have been trying to forget her. Hard. It is not something that I am proud of."

"Both of us made love to salamanders. Both of us gave ourselves to her. What if that makes it possible for her to claim our baby, to make up for losing Pearl Loomis?"

"Laura is defeated, and a prisoner. Her salamanders were released. We were released. It is over."

"Is it, really?"

"Barnabas assured me that she cannot escape."

* * *

Xavier held to his equipment, his field glasses, his photo machine, his flashes, everything. This time he would know for sure. He'd come back with proof positive this time.

Maybe... maybe he had done this before, and they had destroyed the plates and his memory of it...

But if they did, it was an incomplete job, for he had these... visions, these unconnected flashes of memory.

And maybe it was just getting to him."

* * *

'You are brooding again." Urien complained. "You are again thinking that had something to do with what happened to Loomis!"

"I know you didn't" Barnabas spoke calmly.

"Do you? Do you really know it? Not the way you act around me."

Urien was right. There was a strain between them. Barnabas could not accept George's verdict: death by misadventure. Loomis Sr. drank and smoked in bed, even when warned not to... It was a natural death for him...

Maybe it was his pride that was hurt. He had offered to help the old man, and instead he had burned to death under his roof. Willie's father. That made it tougher. Even if Willie did not get along with his old man, still it was a shock for him too."

So he chose to blame Urien for it, thought it was not his fault.

It was unfair. He had seen Urien after the accident. He was shaken, horrified. And innocent. He had proof of it - He had not taken Urien's word, he had bitten him, hard and extricated the truth out of him that way... Which proved his innocence definitively...

"I am sorry, Urien."

Urien grunted. Barnabas said that he was sorry often enough. And he did not mean it.

"No, Urien." Barnabas knew what Urien was thinking. "This time it is for real. I behaved unconscionably with you. Can you forgive me for it? I just don't have the habitude of people coming to a tragic end while entrusted to my care." But then he remembered Pansy Faye, dead because of three people, Dirk Wilkins, Laura, and himself..

"Specially such a horrible way."

"I have blamed myself and I have blamed you. I had no right to. It was hard telling it to Willie. It was hard accepting. But I had no right to make you bear the pain of it. Can you forgive me for it?"

"Me?" Urien was incredulous. "forgive you?"

"Yes."

* * *

Willie stood outside the Blue Whale. A drink would do him a lot of good, he felt.

It would also do him a lot of harm. He couldn't drink one single glass anymore. No unless he wanted to spend the rest of the night. in the drunk tank. He grimaced. He knew what alcohol could do. What it had done to his father, what it could do to him, and indirectly to Pearl and Louella.

Yet, for a while a drink could make the pain stop. Or could make you stop caring about it. Could make you not care that your father had died after you had kicked him out into the street. Could make you forget how you felt at the funeral. A small funeral. No one cared to come, except out of respect to Willie himself. No one had cared about the old lush. Not even his own son.

It was fair. part of him insisted. Robert Loomis had deserted his wife and children after he got tired of kicking them around. What did they owe him?

Still, to be so old, so alone, with no one to care if your lived or died. So destitute...

Damn it! The man was his father!

And it wasn't only his father's fault. He had had bad luck. He knew the feeling, knew how you could get it. He had been there himself.

Like father, like son. If it had not been for Barnabas, he'd have ended like his father...

He wished that he could cry. Or that he could shrug off the old man, as having gotten what he deserved. He could do neither...

He could not even get drunk.

* * *

Just what she needed. A demonstration of women in front of the cannery, complaining about sexual harassment. "We want to work, not sell our asses." "We are not available." "We demand respect." "Carolyn Collins, aren't you a woman?" "Respect women." and other signs.

Where had they come from? Didn't they know the spectacle they were giving? They could come to her with their complaints could they not? They made it as if she was a traitor to her sex for not wanting to be involved in such business. I mean, what was wrong if men flirted with them?

Well, another problem that needed to be solved.

She was always solving problems. And her problems, who took care of them?

She poured herself a drink.

Roger saw her and shook his head. "It doesn't help." he said.

"I need it now."

"Adam isn't worth it. No more than Laura was. You are not hurting him. Only yourself."

"Just let me drink in peace, Uncle Roger."

* * *

Zeb sat alone in his study. He heard Jessica call him, but he did not answer.

He had work to do, here, in the dark. The gathering of the forces, they had called it. He lighted the matches in a circle and concentrated hard on them. Why matches? Why such a primitive method, when they had all that technology at their disposal?

He could not deny what he had seen. It had happened. And he still felt, inside him, what he had felt when he had first seen those beings...

Somebody who hated Barnabas Collins as much as he did...

Who could that be? Why should an extra-terrestrial care about one particular earthling?

Unless there was something special about this earthling. Either his vampirism or his homosexuality.

Whichever. He had found an ally.

* * *

Julia wondered how it would be to become a mother. She had stopped seeing herself as one years ago. She was now pregnant and recognized the signs in her well enough. But it felt unreal. And part of her wondered how much her now apparent state affected her image, professionally, at least.

She laughed at herself. Still the Iron Lady. Determined to succeed in her profession at any price, even after the years had taught her that professional success was not the end-all and be-all of existence. That there were indeed other things.

It would be funny, wouldn't it? That after diagnosing and treating Louella's anxiety regarding her impending maternity, she would succumb to the same syndrome. Of course, she would be sophisticated about it. Education did that to you. Make you sound more knowledgeable when you were only being unreasonable.

Why couldn't she be as calm and accepting as Hallie? As Buffy? Both of them seemed to have no problems with their pregnancies. David did not sound that convinced that he wanted to be a father, but with Barnabas' prodding he had found that he had had to. Because nothing was going to deprive Barnabas of his grandchild (or whatever the relationship would be). And Barnabas had a point. If Daniel's line was to continue, it would have to be through David. Much as Barnabas loved Edmund, he was not really Carolyn's son. And Carolyn would never have children of her own.

Well, as long as Barnabas did not decide that Julia was in need of pampering... She would keep her dignity. Really the way Barnabas could fuss around you...

* * *

David looked at Halllie, feeling guilty that he wasn't more glad that he was going to be a father. He knew better than to show it. Gold knows that it would mean another lecture from Barnabas, and he knew what they were like...

When you considered Barnabas' past, you wondered why anybody should listen to his lectures. Yet people did.

Dear Barnabas.. He was a potential murder victim. One day, somebody who did not care to be lectured, would do him in...


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Zeb accompanied Jessica into the department store, sulking. Not against her. Against the world that allowed such things as Barnabas Collins and George Brant to flourish.

But he was doing something about it, even if he had told Jessica nothing about it. She would not believe him. Worse, she might actually side with those... creatures.. Even after she had found out that it was all true.

No one understood him or cared for him. No one, except his new found friends. Even Sandy, who had been so vocal once, was no Barnabas' side. Iris... forget it. The way she sounded, it was all his fault.

He felt his face flush. He could not think about it without getting flustered...what Barnabas and George did. It made him sick. It was unnatural. It was vicious, it was...

From behind the sting of laughter reached him. He turned angrily. Was somebody laughing at him?

But they had not seen him. It was a man and a woman, sharing a joke. Frank and Buffy Torrance.

He stared at Buffy. Stared at her hard.

* * *

The light was warm and welcoming. The figures inside seemed friendly. Somewhere between apes and babies. Even cute. He greeted them and they greeted him.

He glided towards them. He felt himself coming closer, but no muscles of his were involved, only his desire to be closer... Must be a mechanism of some kind. He wished to be there, and he was there. Strange... if he could think of such words as strange. but he could not. It was wonderful, magnificent, a dream...

... It was a dream. Xavier got up from the grass where he had fallen asleep, waiting for the U.F.O. to show up.

A dream. A stupid dream of the friendly, cute, playful space people. Him, of all people! Was he lost in fantasies already? He was a serious researcher, for God' sake, not a dewy eyed dreamer, like many he could mention. Those were not aliens. They were cute Disney creatures! Whatever aliens could be, they certainly would not be cute.

* * *

"You cannot let it go, can you?' George asked him. He knew the answer to this. Barnabas could not let go of Robert Loomis, and how he had died under his roof.

"It is hard." Barnabas admitted.

"You tried."

"I did not try enough. I had bitten him. I could have made sure that he did not smoke in bed. But I was careless. I did not realize how ingrained that was in him, and how much more pressure I needed to put in him. I thought that I could get away with simple commands, instead of taking over his will enough that he would be unable to."

"It was bound to happen, sooner or later. I know that it is cruel to say this, but he had been at the edge for a long time. Winos do not have a long life expectancy. And from what Willie tells me about him, I do not think that it was a great waste.'

"I know how he mistreated Willie. No worse than I did. And he was a victim, too. Maybe of himself, but still a victim. I wanted to make it easy for him in his last years."

"Barnabas, you can't save everybody. You can't carry the weight of the world on your shoulders."

"But when I see the pictures of those who sleep on the streets I _want_ to do something."

"Then try to set up a proper homeless shelter here. Donate to the ones that already exist. And stop beating yourself for what you cannot change."

"Still, it was under my roof."

"Yes, it was."

"Just like Pansy Faye. Under my roof..."

* * *

'He worries me." Jessica confided to Julia "He is obsessed. He just can't let go. I hoped that after that fiasco with Yolanda he would see reason. But he just shuts me out, and locks himself in his study for hours."

"Have you tried discussing it with him?"

"He just accuses me of being on Barnabas's the sheriff's side."

"And are you?"

"Yes. Not at first. I was quite shocked to find that it was true. The sheriff doesn't look the type. And Barnabas... well, anything is possible with him."

"But now you accept it."

"There are far worse things going in this town. Homosexuality is so... pedestrian, given what happens. But how can I get Zeb to see it that way?"

* * *

"I don't like asking you favors", Roger told Barnabas, without preamble. In fact, I do not like you much."

Barnabas thought that it was an understatement. After all, a couple of years ago Roger had tried to kill him. But he did not say it aloud. Instead he was quietly supportive. "And how can I help you?"

"Not me. Carolyn. She's drinking and I can't convince her to stop. I try to tell her that Adam is not worth it, but it is no use."

"She can be quite stubborn." Barnabas commented.

'Yes. And she is more upset about this business aboutt he women protesting at the cannery, they take offense because men find them attractive, can you imagine? And they call her names.."

Barnabas decided that it was not the time to enlighten Roger about sexual harassment. It would go over his head, anyway.

But if Carolyn's drinking was out of control, that needed attending to.

"I will see what I can do." he said.

Poor Roger. He was a headache most of the time. But he did not doubt the devotion that he had for Carolyn, a devotion made stronger by his estrangement from David.

"Thanks." Roger said. And Barnabas knew what it had cost Roger to say that much.

* * *

"I finally got the money" Derek announced proudly to George "I can now make plans for the expedition."

"And I'd better not ask you how you got the money. Not if I want to keep my sanity, right?"

Derek made a face that confirmed George's suspicions.

"It is a bit cold now to go diving." he told Derek. "If you manage not to lose on horses, you should be able to do it this spring."

"I will not lose it." Derek said. "I will hold on to it. And I will find the jewels."

"You know, Derek, the way you talk about them, sometimes I believe that they exist."

"But they do!"

"Forgive me, but I just can't believe it."

* * *

Joe and Tammy faced each other. There was tension between them. Not as there had once been, and with each day, it was less and less. But there _was_ tension and would be there for quite a while.

"I know that it is not your fault." Tammy said. 'Neither what Yolanda forced you to do, nor what Delia and Violet did. Yet something in me blames you."

"Do you blame me, or does Jake?"

Anger flared in her eyes, then died down. "Jake has been putting pressure on me. I became dependent on him while I was in Wyncliffe and he uses it."

"I could talk to him."

"No. She shook her head. "This is something that I have to settle by myself. No outsiders."

'Outsiders?" Joe was hurt. Is that what you call me?"

"That's what Jake calls you."

"Is that what _you_ call me? What _you_ consider me to be?"

"Joe, please..."

"What you and Jake mean is that I am a honkie. Damn it, Tammy, say it. Is that what everybody else is? Is that what Barnabas is? You know that it is nonsense. Don't tell me that it is not."

"Joe I know that you are right. Don't you think that I have nor reproached myself the same way that you are doing? I just can't keep Jake out of my thoughts. You have no idea of the strength of the bond between a therapist and a patient."

"And he abused it. He should be reported to Barnabas."

"I... I can't.:"

"Well, I can."

* * *

Kenneth just shook his head.

"Well," Xavier asked. "What I got?"

"A fever. I will run some tests. But considering that you slept outside, on the grass, as you told me, that time you went hunting for U.F.O.s I can figure out what happened. The question is how to keep it from turning into a pneumonia."

"I also keep having these dreams."

"Well, if they do not go away, you may have to talk to my wife about them. Although it does not surprise me that you have them. You are full of anxiety. You have problems at your business. Your children have disappointed you. And on top of that, you have this anxiety about proving the existence of U.F.O.s You should try to relax more.

"But I think that there is more to the dreams."

"Again, talk to Julia about them. She is the expert. As for now I am prescribing bed rest. Dink plenty of fluids, Keep warm, and do not worry more than it is absolutely necessary."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Another letter from Patterson.. George frowned. Somehow he liked it less and less, those requests for money. More demands than requests.

But they were not. George Patterson was no extortionist nor blackmailer. He was just shocked to find out what Dave's secret had been. More shocked at his having taken him so long to figure it out..

And why shouldn't Patterson ask for money? It was just a loan. An investment in whatever business venture was involved.

And it was not as if it was that much money. Patterson was quite moderate in his demands.

Demands. There was the word again. Patterson was demanding money from him, not asking. Extorting it. Blackmailing him.

But it could not be. Not Patterson. Sure he was blunt and plainspoken. He had always been. And he resented the young man who held what had once been his job. He still could not accept that he had been turned out of his job so easily, so suddenly, in that election. He had blamed George Brant, even if it had been Davenport who had beaten him. ?And who had lost no time getting torn to pieces by Jeb Hawkes.

Davenport was dead, so Patterson could not blame him. So whom did he have to put the blame on? Right, George Brant.

Damn it, why couldn't he say it? Patterson was blackmailing him...

* * *

Carolyn filled another brandy glass. She thought of what Roger had told her. Maybe she should not be drinking...

Still, one more glass, what difference it would already make? She felt guilty about it, but not so guilty as to stop from taking one more dink.

"Don't drink it Carolyn"

"Uncle Roger, I told you..." she said petulantly, then stopped. It had not been Roger who addressed her.

"Barnabas, of course." she said with mockery. Mockery directed at herself most of all. "you had to get into the act."

"I know that you are hurting, but this will not make it better."

"I don't want to make it better. I want... I want..."

"You want not to hurt so much, is that it?"

"Yes. You do not know what it is like."

"Believe me, Carolyn, I know. There is very little that I do not know about pain."

"Yes." Carolyn grumbled, granting him that. "You do know. Do you know how to get out of it? How to make life worth living again?"

Barnabas shook his head. "That I don't know. I know that you eventually come out of it, but not how it is done. You just live through it, hang on, and then one day it becomes bearable. Things don't seem better, but suddenly, that which was troubling you seems less important. And you discover that you want to go on. And that there is still laughter and hope."

"This is your fault, you know. Adam hates you and used me to get revenge on you.."

"I am aware of that."

"He hid it well, he made me believe.. I believed him! And he stabbed me again. Why am I so gullible?"

"Poor Carolyn.."

"Oh, I am third of you and your commiserating. I am tried of the whole thing, of the whole town, I am tried of all it!"

"Carolyn.!"

"And I'll drink as much as I want to! "

'You should not."

":Get out! Get out! I don't want to see you again! Get out!"

* * *

Zeb swallowed his drink. Another one. He suspected that he was drinking too much. And would not do. Not if he was supposed to do all that had been asked of him.

He had started drinking not long ago, when he had found out that hem could do nothing about Barnabas Collins and George Brant. And it was hard to stop.

He put the decanter away. he had enough. He had a mission to accomplish, and it somehow involved Buffy Torrance.

He strode out into the night. He had to walk alone, get rid of the tensions, and of the alcohol.

Maybe he should tell Jessica of what he was doing, ask for her help.

No, it would not do. She would not believe him. She would try to warn Barnabas.

He hated it. Why couldn't he trust his own wife?

He would change that. With the alien's help he would change it.

He saw it, straight in front of him. Just as the first time. The big beautiful spaceship. Only this time it seemed larger, stronger, shinier...

Maybe it was his efforts at channeling the energy that made it possible.

"Come in, Zeb King." they invited him.

He was reluctant do to so. They were his allies, he was working with them. Yet for a moment there was fear in him.

...Things were not as they seemed...

"So you don't wish to believe that we are here?" they asked, not unkindly.

"I wish I knew more about you. I wish that you did not look so much like a toy, all lighted up like a Christmas tree. You are not for real!"

"We are real."

"You are an illusion..." This was madness, what was he saying? Didn't he have more sense than that?

"You are hard to convince, Zeb King. Maybe I am too strange for your mind to comprehend, and I take this shape so as to make you comfortable."

"I. You said 'I'. It used to be 'We'."

"Tricks of the language, terms that are meaningless. But if you do not believe in my reality, you can believe that I can give you what you want."

"Give me what I want? What could you know about it, an alien whose ways I cannot fathom?"

"But your ways can be fathomed. This shape is a temporary necessity. Communication is not possible otherwise."

Zeb grumbled a bit. But not for long. He swallowed his doubt. He wanted to know what to do next, how he would achieve his revenge on Barnabas.

The light enveloped him. But this time the light wasn't fuzzy. No half-defined shapes were darting in and out of his sight. No shadows. as there had been the last time.

The aliens, whoever they were, were getting stronger, and he was making it possible.

"Why this shape at all?" Damn it, it was silly, but he had a scientific mind and had to question everything.

"It is woven from the dreams of many. There is a man who, while not fully sharing this dream, knows of it and his mind collects dreams such as this. So I assumed the shape I found in men's dreams. As I have done in the past."

"Who are you?"

"Someone who hates Barnabas as much as you do. Somebody who has an account to settle with him."

For a moment Zeb froze. And old enemy of Barnabas Collins. Some of them could be unpleasant people.

But not all. There were plenty of innocent victims, like his own uncle. They deserved their chance to get justice...

"What kind of help you want from me?"

"I need you to bait a trap."

* * *

"I got myself sick and got nothing for my trouble." Xavier told Sandy. It gets to me. It makes no sense. Why should I be the one not to see anything? And why should I keep on having dreams? I managed to get something that seemed to come out of the spaceship. I had it in my hand. And when I woke up there was stone under my hand.

"It is just a stone. it is not as if it was some piece of jewelry."

"But why does it look so much like my dream? Why am I being tantalized by dreams? Why do I keep getting bits and pieces out of nowhere? And the dreams, they look just like Steven Spielberg stuff... Why can't I have serious dreams?"

* * *

"Tammy will not like it." Joe confessed to Barnabas "Yet I thought you should know."

"I understand your concern. I was aware of the risk when I put Tammy in Jake's care. But the alternative was worse."

"I don't blame you for it. I just want you to read the riot act to Jake about professional ethics."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"Why do you have to appear in this fashion at all?" Zeb asked the creature that was now his ally. "Surely there is no need to pretend to be what you are not."

"There is need. I should not have to explain it, yet I will, for I know that you will not betray me. I am a prisoner. It is not me that you see before you. My body and essence are under lock and key far away. But I can project my thoughts and inhabit men's dreams. And it is by those dreams that I can assume shape that can be seen by human eyes.

"Are you reading Davenport's dreams?""

"Not his. He does not truly believe in them. But knew knows of them. He can visualize what thousands believe in, what they think they know, and what they think they have seen. He's listed them, catalogued them, and has them at his fingertips."

"So I have to keep coming back to this Steve Spielberg movie set?"

"Yes. For a while you will have to live in it. Well, Zeb, now that I have answered your questions, are you with me?"

Zeb hesitated. If only he knew what sort of creature he was dealing with, why it had been confined, what was its grievance against Barnabas...

But as he thought of Barnabas, the anger rose in him, and his judgment fled.

"Yes. I am with you. I will do what you need. I am your man."

* * *

"I know that you are going to call me a pest.." George said. "But this has to be settled."

"What has to be settled?" Barnabas was still smarting over Carolyn's reaction, and was wondering how to approach her again... Maybe Megan could tell him... He had trouble concentrating in George's words.

"Comet. That's what has to be settled."

Barnabas spread his hands. "You saw what happened last time. He wasn't ready."

"Yes. I know that. I also know that it is on my conscience. I can understand what led you to do what you did. But I still can't condone it. I can't ask you to release him, not until he is, as you say, ready. But there ought to be a way to bring it to an end."

"Like what?"

"I don't know. But there must be way to reach him. As a man, not as a dog."

"You know what happened last time. And I recall that you said then that I'd never make a human being out of him."

"I remember. But still it sticks on my throat."

"I do not see any way, yet. But I will try to figure out another way, if it bothers you so much."

* * *

Big eyes. Big heads. Bald.

They were clearly human fetuses. That was what they looked like.

That was what made him suspicions about many contactees stories. It might well be that by some quirk of evolution the U.F.O. visitors resembled human fetuses. Possible yes. Probably not.

Davenport sighed. So why did he keep dreaming of them? His attitude was more than a bit skeptical.

Sure, he believed that U.F.O.s were worth investigating. But from that to accept blindly the product of other people's imaginations...

Yet the dreams continued. Night after night. And his flu did not get any better...

* * *

"I cannot reach her." Barnabas confided to Megan.

"She is at the edge. And kindness will not help her now. She needs to be hit with a two by four before she pays attention."

"And how should I do that?"

"Not you, You cannot be ruthless enough with her. You cannot tell her unpleasant truths, mainly because you do not now those truths yourself."

"What truths?"

"That the problem is not Adam. The problem is that she does not have any friends."

"She does have..."

"She has people in town that are dependent on her goodwill, and who flatter her, to stay on her good side. But a good friend? She never learned how to be one. The closest she had was Vicky. But Vicky wised up to the fact that what they had was not friendship."

"And you can tell her how to?'

'Yes. it has to do with the way she deals with the town, with the employees at the cannery, with everybody. She never deals with equals, and she takes what she thinks is her due. I have to tell her that she will never have friends until she learns how to be a human being... More or less what I taught you... You know, I have hated and envied the Collins family for a long time. I still think it is unconscionable the power they wield over the rest of us. But I finally understand what it is to be one of them... I can offer her a way out, and I will."

"Do you hate me, too? I am a Collins."

"I cured you of it. And now I will cure her."

"And the rest?"

"Liz is dead, David is out. Roger... Roger is Roger, And Edmund is going to public school, which will help. She is the only one that matters now."

* * *

"I think that I have set it up." George told Iris the next morning. "If Violet signs, then it will be official."

"But Violet has to agree to sign. And she must be of a sound mind before her signature is valid."

"I am aware of that. But we can let her know what the options are,"

"We would have to see her, won't we?"

"Yes."

"I don't know." Iris hesitated. "I do not know if I can face her."

"You will be able to. You won't be alone."

Iris sighed. "Barnabas promised to help. But what good it will do."

"Well, we can bargain with her. She could be liable for your and Tammy's kidnapping. You and Tammy could drag her through civil court. Then we'll offer to drop the suits if she signs. That might scare her enough for her to sign."

* * *

Buffy had trouble negotiating the packages in her hands. Maybe she should have made two trips. Well, she was stubborn and was paying for it.

"Do you want help, Mrs. Torrance?"

'Huh?" she looked up and saw Zeb King.

"Please let me help you with these." he took one of her bags. "where is your car?"

"Back there." she pointed to it. "the blue Mustang."

Zeb walked towards the car, carrying the bag and another package.

"What are you doing away from the clinic?"

"I took a couple of hours off. I needed to do a couple of errands here, and let Jessica to run the place until I come back."

"Got many people?"

"Always more people coming. I do not know whether to rejoice that we are getting the word across, or be worried that the infection rate keeps going up."

"Probably both."

"They also seem to be getting younger."

"That's not good."

"No, it isn't"

They loaded all her packages into the car.

"That was very nice of you, Dr. King." Buffy said.

"It was a pleasure."

Zeb seemed to hesitate. "Mrs. Torrance... we have not had much chance to meet with each other."

Buffy did not know what to answer. Her and Frank's friendship with Barnabas was one reason why she and Frank did not socialize with the Kings.

"Would you accept an invitation to our house, you and your husband?"

"I will have to talk with Frank, but I'd be willing to."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Xavier did not look any better. He looked worse, and his fever had gone up. Kenneth shook his head. This was no flu. And if it was pneumonia, why didn't it react to antibiotics? Why didn't the symptoms match?

"I keep dreaming." Xavier said. "About the spaceship. About the blinking lights, about bald fetuses, with big saucer-like eyes."

Kenneth did not know what to answer to this. He was not much into dream analysis himself.

"They are imposters. I try to tell them that. I say that they should not be there. I am no Steve Spielberg and this is not a movie I am a _serious_ researcher. But they don't care."

"Just don't think about them so much. Get another interest."

"It won't help."

Sandy watched them silently.

When Kenneth left the bedside, she approached him?"

"Can't you tell me what's the matter with him?"

Kenneth hesitated. He did not like to admit being confused. Yet he always maintained that honesty was the best policy in the doctor-patient relationship.

"It is strange. It must be some new virus, I can't recall any virus that could cause these symptoms."

"Is that all you can say? Some virus?"

* * *

"You were under no obligation to accept." Frank said. "Not because he helped you with your bags."

"I know. But he looked so sad. I felt sorry for him. Everybody is giving him a bad time over Miss Overton."

"Well, it was his fault. And you know why he did it. He has this obsession about Barnabas and George Brant. He wants to destroy them. And you know why."

"Well, you were not particularly thrilled when you found out about them."

"I was shocked, I agree. But I did not go overboard. I learned to accept it."

"You were uncomfortable for quite a while. You could not wait to marry me, so you did not have to come into the Old House and be a witness to what was going on." she smiled, amused.

"All right. So I did. But I never went ballistic, like Zeb did."

"Maybe Zeb needs encouragement to learn to accept it. Or at least not to go ballistic... And Jessica is nice."

"Yes. she is." Frank acknowledged.

"Let's go. We may help Zeb get his thinking straight, after all."

* * *

Carolyn was sober. Megan was thankful for that. She did not want to have to deal with a drunken Carolyn.

But since she was there to negotiate in behalf of the protesting women, Carolyn had to meet her sober.

"Why doesn't it surprise me that you are involved in this?" Carolyn said sarcastically. "You are making money out of it, of course.? Maybe you want me to pay you to drop the whole thing?"

"I am willing to drop the while thing. But not for money... You know, Carolyn, money is not the answer to everything."

"You say that?"

"Yes. I do. I know what is going on. I know what you drink, and why. I know what you need."

"Are you offering to bring Adam back to me? Or to punish him? I want to hear what you are offering."

"What I want you to do is to listen. To really listen." She took Carolyn by the shoulders. "You have to understand that money cannot bring you happiness, it cannot buy you love, it cannot buy you friendship."

"So now you dispense bromides?"

"They are not bromides when people forget them, as you do. You have been buying friendship all you life. therefore you do not have a real friend."

"I have..."

"You have women who depend on you for their salary and are forced to be pleasant to you. You have no one to befriend you, and that's because you do not know how to be a friend. Your last chance to be one left with Vicky. She slammed the door on you, because for all your protestations of friendship, you put her unborn baby at risk, because protecting it would be too much work."

"You of all people complain about vampire attacks."

"I do. I do blame your mother. I have done things I am not proud of. But when I did them, I did them out of desperation, not laziness, nor pride... But let's not talk about your mother, though she was the one who started you in this path. Let's talk about you."

"So, it is my fault that the women are complaining?"

"Yes. Because you do not care that they get groped, or propositioned, or verbally harassed by managers who think that you are running a brothel for their benefit. What would you now what it is like to have to endure being pawed, spoken about as if you were a piece of meat, or just being made to have sex with a man who has power over you, because you desperately need the money? This is the legacy of your grandfather Jamison. My great aunt could tell you what it was like, the way he came in, to pick his latest sex slave... And others learned form him. Your mother never thought to do anything about it. As long as there was a profit's he did not care. That's what secretaries are for, she said once. And you have done nothing about it."

"But... no one told me."

"Of course not. Complaining could get you fired. And you did not care."

"And you object? You with your sex life?"

"I only do it with the willing. I do not force anyone. "

Carolyn looked at her. "Do you hate me? Do you hate us, the family?" she dared her to deny it.

"All my life, kiddo. I am from town. I am a villager. I know what it is to endure the Collins family and their haughty ways."

"So, you are like the others. You hate me. You hate my family. You want to destroy us."

"Hater? Yes. I grew up hating the family. Why do you think I was so willing to nurture a creature like Jeb Hawkes so that he could impregnate you with his monster seed? I enjoyed that. And I enjoyed too the idea of becoming your mother in law. I could become one of you... You see, I hated you, but I envied you too. I was as mixed up as the rest of the town."

"And you are not?"

"Not anymore. I do not want to destroy your family nor you. If I wanted to destroy you, I'd just let you drink yourself to death. No. I am going to tell you some hard truths that no one told you before.. And maybe teach you what you need to know if you are going to become a real human being."

"A real human being?" Carolyn laughed. "a vampire teaching me how to be a human being?"

"I am more of one than you are now. You are just a Collins, now. But not for long."

Megan grabbed Carolyn by the arms, baring her fangs. Carolyn kicked and fought, but Megan knew how to overpower an unwilling victim.

She bit into her until Carolyn fell under her power.

'Now, you are going to learn what you failed to learn all these years. Carolyn Collins,."

* * *

Harry did not look pleased to see him. Barnabas knew why. There had been too many betrayals between them. There had been forgiveness. and Harry could not stand to be forgiven for doing what he thought was right. There was much to be admired in Harry, but sill, like Maggie, he had a devious side.

And the fact that Barnabas was coming to see Munsungan did not make things easier.

But he was willing to let him come, and that was enough.

Barnabas wondered again if this was the right thing... If he was not being pushed into something rash by George's complaints..

Still, something had to be done about Nunez, or Comet. He could not stay a dog forever, no matter how comfortable the arrangement was for him. He had to have a chance for a normal life, as a human being, once he learned how to be one...

Harry shook his head as Barnabas got out of the car, leading the dog... He wondered what the story was, and then decided that given some of Barnabas' ideas, it was better to let Munsungan handle it. As for himself, the less he knew, the better.

Fortunately he no longer needed Barnabas to deal with Davenport or with anyone else in Collinsport. This allowed him to distance himself from the disasters that seemed to follow Barnabas where he went..

Barnabas led Comet forward, telling himself that this was for the best. Nunez deserved a chance, and who better that Munsungan to show him the way?

Munsungan was there, impressive as always. He seemed lost in thought, but when Barnabas approached he looked down at Comet. A look that said that he knew it was not really a dog that was there.

"Come, Comet." Barnabas said. "Make it easy on yourself."

Comet growled. He did not like this. He sat down and bared his teeth.

"It will not help." Barnabas picked him up and carried him towards the old shaman."

"I want you to tell me what it is to be done with him. How can he be made to see that which he refuses to see."

Munsungan touched him, and Comet snapped at him.

"Leave him with me, and come back tomorrow. and you'll have your answer."

* * *

It was done. Carolyn would get off her Collins high horse. She had been told things that no one had told her before. She was not allowed any excuses. Her behavior had been explained to her, and how it consistently destroyed her chances at happiness.

She would not longer play Lady Bountiful at the plant, treating a few favored workers to make them into pretend friends, while the rest endured bad conditions. She would enforce worker safety laws, she would curb sexual harassment, as well as the petty harassment of managers who were given a modicum of power and abused it. She would allow a union to be formed. She would deal with her workers with respect, and not demand love of them in what was basically an unequal relationship. She would do the same with her maids.

She would issue a formal apology to Vicky for all her past slights and pettiness. That Megan had insisted. If there was to be friendship there, it must begin by an apology.

She would begin to form her own friendships, socializing with those who did not depend on them for a paycheck. That meant the Davenports, the Torrances, the Kings, and the Andersons. She did not know how many good friends she would make, but at least she would have a normal social life. She would got to Boston more frequently, and maybe find friends there. Join a charity board, and meet people of her same social level...

With David out of the inheritance, with Edmund in public school, and his teachers instructed not to treat him any different form the other children, the Collins supremacy was at an end.

She had done it. The day when the Collins lorded it over, and the rest of the villagers kowtowed to them were over. There would be Collinses yet. But they would not be the Collinses that she had grown up to hate and envy.

They were just people, from now on.

She resisted the desire to raise Jamison Collins, the man who had made life Hell for her great aunt because she would not sleep with him, and gloat in his face.. That would be childish, and she was now an adult. It was done. Collinsport was free, that was all that mattered.

She flew, surveying the town. It was the same, yes. But it had changed... It did not know it, but it had changed..

She saw Elsa walk determined, camera in hand.

...That late at night... That kid was fearless in her pursuit of photographic evidence of U.F.O.s.

Megan admired Elsa's determination. But not her lack of caution. Elsa had great potential, but she had to live to reach it.

She followed her, wondering if her parents knew of her nocturnal excursions. They should know better than to let her wander at night. Granted that the presence of three patrolling vampires dampened criminal activity, still, it was risky.

Elsa used to have a crush on Barnabas. Did she still? In any case, Barnabas behaved with outmost correctness. It might be possible later, given the right circumstances, that he'd do a Roman Polanski. But it would take at least two hundred years, and it might lead him to a nervous breakdown.

Megan liked Elsa. She wished that she could be his daughter... She wished that she could _have_ a daughter. Well, she could always adopt, at Barnabas had done...

The U.F.O. showed up, large and bright, lighted like a Christmas tree.

Elsa held her breath and prepared her camera. She would get good photos this time. No way that she would miss!

She lifted her camera and pointed it to her target.

A ray of light came from the spaceship. It reached the camera and Elsa's hands.

Elsa let go of the camera, screaming. her hands and clothes on fire.

Megan rushed to her. She rolled Elsa on the grass, extinguishing the flames before the could do more damage, while a few steps away the camera burned.

She looked at Elsa's hands. She had gotten to them in time. They burns would be painful, but they would heal.

"Let's get out of here." She told Elsa.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Elsa let Megan bandage her hands. She wasn't scared anymore. She was irritated because she had missed her chance at photos and she had lost her camera.

On top of that Megan was lecturing her about taking stupid chances.

"You are not immortal, no matter what you think. And too many bad things can happen to you. If I ever catch you sneaking out I night I will give you the spanking your mother should have given you before."

She tried to look abashed. She kind of faked it. Megan let her do. Later, when her hands hurt, and the adrenaline wore off, she would be scared, and she would remember the lecture.

"So this is your office?" Elsa said, looking around.

"Yes."

"It looks kind of... ordinary."

"It is an office. Should it look like the set of the 'Addams family'"?

"Well..." Elsa considered it a while. "Tell me, what it is like, being... what you are?"

"A vampire?"

"Yes."

"You like chocolate?"

"Yes."

"And all kinds of candy, I imagine. You like pizza?'

"Yes."

"Well, being a vampire means no more chocolate ever. That's what it means."

* * *

"It baffles me." Kenneth said. "What Xavier had seemed an open and shut case of flu. But nothing is as it should. I am now looking at fungal diseases. He laid on the ground, and he might have picked up something."

"I am sure you will find it." Julia seemed distracted, unwilling to go over it.

Was it the pregnancy that made her so? He had read something about it. But for all the strangeness about becoming parents at their age, there seemed to be more to it...

He knew that pregnancy and delivery were the easy parts (Julia would not agree with that). Raising the child was the hard part, and he wondered if he was up to it.

But there was more to Julia's distraction.

"What is it, Julia?"

"Richard is planning to come to see me."

"Richard? Your cousin who raised you?"

"Yes. The vampire."

"Well, I am finally going to meet him." he sighed. Why not? He already knew four vampires, counting Verhoff, who had been kicked out of Collinsport unceremoniously by Barnabas. (five if you counted the dead Roxanne). One more... "Can you tell me more about him? You told me that he worked for the Mossad."

"Yes. He freelanced for them. "

"I rather not ask him what he did for them. I suspect that he did a bit of killing for them."

"Yes. He did. He learned to kill back in the war. And worse... It was war, and they way he put it, they had been asking for it."

"But not always."

"No. Not always. He does feel bad about those cases. And the worst one was the one who made him a vampire. Richard knows that he behaved abominably there, but... it was war. And Cosmo could not understand the realities of it."

"The other vampire's name was Cosmo?"

"Yes. He had some odd ideas about Good and Evil. At some point he swallowed the idea that he was supposed to be an embodiment of evil, so he tried to do it. He was not cut for it, and Richard could tell. Yes, he did some damage, but not much. He just liked to be theatrical. He mostly raided chicken coops. Every now and then he went on a semi rampage in the villages, then cooled down before they started hunting him. He might have killed a couple of times at most in those rampages, his victims were traumatized but survived,... In any case, Richard wanted to tell him what real evil was like, He tried to bring him back to reality. But it was nothing doing.:"

"And then what happened?"

"Cosmo did not understand what ruthlessness meant. Richard did. Richard had been doing a rampage of his own, only this one was lethal, and well targeted. When the Gestapo came looking for him, he got away in time, and left Cosmo as a scapegoat. He did it in cold blood. He knew what would happen, and he abandoned Cosmo to their tender mercies... Later he came back, and saw what was left. They had chopped Cosmo up. Vampires heal, but cannot grow back limbs. Nor internal organs. He saw the pieces. And he saw to his horror that Cosmo was still alive. He had to finish the job. Richard never truly forgave himself for it..."

"And he told you about it."

"And now I wonder if I helped Barnabas because I identified him with Richard, or with Cosmo... Paying back the debt that Richard had... I did want him to be Richard, but deep down I knew he was Cosmo, and that I had to bring him back to reality, make him understand what the world was really like...Yet I also wanted him to be Richard, tried to make him into Richard...Well, he is neither. He is who he is."

* * *

"Well, Mr. Davenport, what do you think of it?" Megan sat astride the chair facing Xavier, who was propped up by pillows. Sandy stood nearby. She believed that Megan should not be left alone with any man. Not even a very sick one.

"You mean that the spaceship destroyed the camera?"

"And tried to burn Elsa along with it. Those are killers."

"They might have wanted only to destroy the camera. Make sure that no one took photos."

"Why do you think they would do that?'

"I don't know. But the fact remains that it has been sighted over and over, but no record of it exists."

"So they know about cameras, and what they do. And they get pretty nasty."

"Yes. Those cute Steven Spielberg creatures are not friendly. Please try to check on it, Miss Graham. And thanks for letting me know."

* * *

Zeb wondered about Jessica. Could she help him? Get her to secure some article of Buffy which had been in close contact with her long enough to absorb her perspiration? Jessica could do it much easier than him.

But Jessica did not know about the spaceship.. And if she did, she would condemn him for it. Why couldn't she see it? Why was she so stubborn?

He knew that it was not an extra-terrestrial out there. He knew that it was some creature that he'd better not meddle with. Bt he did not care. Barnabas Collins and George Brant owed him. And this was his way of collecting.

Even if he was not sure what was he supposed to do.

* * *

George looked at his mail. Every day the mailman brought in a lot of stuff that he did not want. Bills to be paid, offers for products he had no desire to buy, solicitations from charities he had never heard of...

And a letter from Florida.

Not Chriss and Oriana. No, This was not from their town.

This one was from Patterson.

Damn it. When would he admit it to himself? Patterson, the upright sheriff George Patterson had become a blackmailer...

Maybe he should confront him once and for all...

He realized with a shock that Patterson intimidated him. He could not imagine standing up to him. He made him feel like a child, a juvenile delinquent...

He touched his badge. He had _this_ now. And Patterson was retired. It was not the same.

Yes, he had looked up to Patterson when he was a child. He had said he wanted to be like him when he grew up. Even his love for Dave had not changed that. Other Woodard boys had gone to medical school. Not him. He wanted to be the sheriff...

Well, that was in the past. There had been much to admire in Patterson then. But now he was a blackmailer.

* * *

It was to be expected, so it happened. They had talked about a variety of subjects They had a great time picking apart Reagan, and then Buffy had told them stories of her home in Parallel Time - the Hell that she had escaped.

Of course, telling that, she could not help telling of her gratitude to Barnabas for taking her here, where life was so easy.

Zeb reacted, violently. "How can you speak well of him? Don't you now what...what he is, what he does.."

Maybe Frank would have let it pass. God knows that he had misgivings about Barnabas himself. But Zeb's tone was too ugly, to obscene.

"I warn you, I will not listen to this. He is our friend."

"Your wife's friend, of course. She provides him with food. And you feel safe about it because you think that he'll never try to have sex with her. He might with you."

Frank paled. "Even if he was not... what you say, I would trust him and Buffy."

"Hah! And you accept that he is doing it with the sheriff?"

"Zeb." Jessica tried to calm Zeb down. "Don't get excited. They don't want to hear this."

"You said that Brant admitted it to you." he turned to Jessica accusingly " That he's a faggot, and that Barnabas is another..."

He was gesticulating wildly. Only some of it was for show. He had a clean handkerchief hidden in his sleeve., put where it would not touch his skin. He was determined to use it to get a sample of Buffy's perspiration.

He saw his opportunity.

"Of course, you don't care." He turned to Buffy. "You don't care at al, even if he grabs you like his and has dinner at your expense and..." Joining action to his words, he roughly grabbed her, and pushed her so that she stumbled and fell in his arms. Quickly, he fished for his handkerchief, and pressed it against the back of her neck where some perspiration had accumulated. He put it back quickly, and let her get up again.

"Are you crazy?" Frank grabbed his arms and shook him. Quickly Zeb put the handkerchief back in his sleeve.

"This is enough!" Frank said. "We are going now."

Buffy went with him, her face congested. "And thanks for nothing!" she added.

Jessica collapsed on a chair. Why? Why would you behave like this? Do you want to chase everybody away?"

Zeb said nothing and left the room. He dropped the handkerchief into a plastic bag and put it away.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

"Well, you were right.:" Buffy told Frank "We should not have gone. Feel free to tell me 'I told you sol.'"

Frank grinned. "I won't And no serious harm was done. And now we have the perfect excuse never to meet them again."

"They guy is crazy. He should be put away before he does something really dumb."

* * *

"Jake insists what it would work between us." Tammy told Barnabas.

"And you believe it?"

"I... I feel like I owe him. Or that I owe it to somebody. To all the others in that ship that I denied."

"Not to marry a honky? How that is going to fix anything?"

"I do not know. But I feel I owe it to them.. And then Jake helped me."

"It is his job. I had to twist his arm to have him take your case. And he _wants_ to be a therapist., and you were his chance. He owes you for it, not the other way around."

"Still..."

"Jake is a good therapist, but his anger gets the better of him too often. Specially when it comes to race relations. He had been hurt it the past... all black people carry scars, but that is something that I do not have to tell you. The problem is that his pain works itself in anger. And you make a too tempting target. The woman traitor to her race who slept with a white man without being forced do. You are a potential abuse victim with him.. I do not want to read a police report when he beat you half to death. Or killed you."

"I know, but he keeps on droning on..."

"Well, I am going to go to him and explain professional ethics to him. I will tell him that his future as a therapist instead of an orderly hinges on leaving you alone."

"That's extortion."

"No. He crossed the line. I am giving him the chance to retreat and save his career. If he is smart, he will take it."

Tammy sank her head in her hands. "What future would Joe and I have. It is a mixed marriage, and what guarantees are there..."

"What guarantees are in any marriage? Do not look at me. My own experience of marriage ended disastrously, so I tell you that marrying within one's race is no guarantee of anything. Some mixed marriages work, some don't, and there are good and bad reasons for both... I guarantee that Joe will not try to poison, or stab you, or shoot you, and that you won't put any curse on him. Apart from that, there are no guarantees. If I ever learned anything it is that. You love Joe. He loves you. Get married, and hope for the best."

* * *

Redwolf stared at the object up in the sky. He had seen it before and he was curious about it. He had a familiar feeling about it, but from where? For some reason there was this constriction in his throat when he looked at it.

He wanted to see it again. It was important. He could not explain how he came to feel so.

Maybe he should ask Munsungan. He'll probably have the answer.

But he would not go to Munsungan. The old man was a thorn in his side. And it was worse since his own involvement with Laura's schemes. His own prestige had taken a nosedive since them, and Musungan's had risen. All he needed now was to approach Munsungan as another supplicant.

He could rebuilt his stock. After all, he was the one who dealt with Davenport and other white men.. The benefits to the tribe from that relationship kept flowing. People remembered that. With time he would be back on top.

Give it time, and he would challenge the old fool again. And this time, without supernatural help...

But in the meantime, what was up there in the sky?

Why should he care about it? It was another supernatural element. Much help those had been to his political career. He had finally learned hiss lesson with Laura. Munsungan did the supernatural stuff best. He had his own weapons, and those he knew how to handle.

No, no spaceships or whatever it was for him. Let another fool deal with it.

"You called me, Harry Redwolf." the spaceship said.

"I did not." He did not stop to consider how a spaceship could speak, or how could it know its name. But he knew that he had to run.

He tripped and fell. It was a man's foot that he had tripped on. And he was looking at the barrel of a gun.

"It wants to talk to you." Zeb said.

He had come deliver the handkerchief as soon as Jessica had fallen asleep so that she could not ask him what he was doing. He had seen Redwolf. He did not know why the spaceship wanted him, but want him it did, and so he was to deliver him.

Redwolf stared numbly at him. "What do you want?"

"I want what _it_ wants. And it wants to talk to you. You have unfinished business.. And it has much to offer you."

Redwolf shook his head. "I am not going."

Zeb prodded him with the gun "I'll shoot you in the leg and carry you. if you don't come along."

"Don't be a fool. You do not know what it is, How can you trust it.?

Zeb prodded him with the gun. "Move!"

Redwolf did not react.

Zeb prodded him again. Redwolf caught his foot and him trip. Zeb fell down, his unloaded gun by his side, and Redwolf was on top of him.

"You should not play with these toys." he admonished Zeb. "A doctor like you should leave these alone." He forced Zeb to get up. "Now we go, and you will explain to me what you were trying to do."

He twisted Zeb's arm behind his back and made him move. "Or maybe I should take you to Old Munsungan. You cannot lie to him. And I think that this is something that he should know about."

His back was turned to the spaceship. And then it happened. There was a ray of light coming out of the spaceship and it hit Redwolf between the shoulder blades.

He screamed first dropping to his knees, then collapsing completely on the ground. His clothes had caught fire.

Zeb looked at him stupidly, not moving.

Should he put out the fire and drag him to the spaceship? Or should he let him die?

He pocketed the gun. And, as he tried to make up his mind, he was this bat sweep down, turn into Megan, and then saw her trying to put out the fire.

"You dimwit." she shouted at him. "Didn't you learn first aid?"

The spaceship had disappeared.

"It is a good thing that I was around." Megan said "With the kind of help you are giving him. Well, the fire is out. We have to take him to the hospital. You take the feet. I'll take the shoulders. Where's your car?

Zeb told her. He was not sure of what to do next. He could not hope to overpower Megan or talk her out of it. At least Redwolf was unconscious. It was up to the spaceship now to stop Megan. He could not do it.

"What were you two doing at this hour? I did not think that you had any business around the Indian reservation."

"Even Indian politicians get VD."

"Did he have?"

"I thought that's why he wanted to meet me. Maybe he did not want anyone to see him with me."

"And then you saw the U.F.O.?"

"Yes."

'You better tell your story to the sheriff. And to Davenport afterwards."

* * *

Had he been right in brining Comet to Old Munsungan? Barnabas felt the doubt stirring in him.

If only he had been convinced that there was no other way. If he had tried everything else. But he knew that was no true. He did it to stop George's complaining.

Now if it had gone wrong.

But why should it go wrong? He had submitted himself to Munsungan, and had survived the experience, and come out stronger. The same had happened to Tammy...

... But they had been ready for it...

On the other hand, to continue as he was meant risking his crossing the line with Nunez, again and again. The temptation was too great... He had caught himself a couple of times when subjecting Comet to a verbal lashing, one that was not deserved but that relieved his tension...

It was a gamble, like so many others that he took.

The home of the shaman was there, welcoming him inside. He crossed the threshold, feeling a shiver as he did so.

Munsungan was sitting on the ground, with Comet lying at his feet. Munsungan did not stir. Neither did the dog.

"You wish to know of the dog." Munsungan said, without preamble.

"Yes. I wish to know how he fared with you."

"The windows of his soul were opened and he could peer within. He has seen himself. "

There was mournfulness in Munsungan's voice. Barnabas looked down at Comet, so meek and quiet, and shuddered involuntarily. "Was it bad?" he asked. Not the question he had meant to ask.

"You believed that he had no conscience. Yet he had. He had hid it, and fed it lies. Now for the first time he learned the truth. And it hurt him. It hurts him still."

Barnabas knelt down and stroked the dog. The dog did not lift his head, but whimpered.

"Can I take him home?"

"Yes. There is no more for me do to with him."


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Hallie heard about the burning of Harry Redwolf in the supermarket. She listened avidly as the cashier told the details.

"The spaceship did it to him." the woman was saying. "Can you believe it?"

She believed it. What she did not believe was that it was really as spaceship. It was something else. Something, she sensed, which could be a threat to her.

Maybe because it was so close to her own handling of Robert Loomis. It involved fire.

It was something that she had to look into.

Back home, taking advantage that David was away, she lit a circle of candles and concentrated on their flames to get the answers she needed.

She needed to know if Laura was escaped and was coming back. Or if another phoenix was moving into her territory..

She saw Redwolf in his bed, still unconscious. She saw the burns in him. It was Laura's brand. As distinctive as fingerprints.

That meant danger, because once free Laura would want to punish her former servant who had usurped her place.

She had to keep Laura from escaping.

* * *

Another job, hunting U.F.O.s. Never a dull day in the life of a Collinsport sheriff..

Just when he thought he could take it easy, this happened... Now he could not just call it Davenport's obsession. Redwolf's injury made it real enough. And made it a menace.

He did not have enough problems with helping Iris get custody of Peter. He did not have enough problems dealing with Patterson. No, he had to chase a flying saucer.

Only how did you do it? Did you put an A.P.B. on it? How did you defeat it if it tried to fight?

He really needed to have a talk with Davenport. He needed to know what he was dealing with. He knew that his gun would not help much.

The rest could wait. Violet was not going anywhere. And he could take a couple of days off before he decided whether to continue paying Patterson or to call his bluff.

But he would get what information he could out of Davenport and make himself ready.

* * *

"He's not getting any better" Sandy told Kenneth.

"I know." Kenneth admitted. In had expected him to rally by now. Instead...

Instead he was sinking into a stupor, muttering more and more about 'spaceship'

He had to admit himself beaten. He had tried to get cultures out of him, and it was not a bacteria, nor a virus, nor a fungus. No toxins...It was something that medical science, as taught in Medical School, did not cover.

So it was probably some of the weird things that happened in Collinsport...

In fact, now that he thought of it, it reminded him of Urien, when they had found him after he had tried to kill Yolanda.

And the reason for it, was that Nicholas was draining Urien's life force.

Was anything draining Davenports' life force?

* * *

The spaceship was angry with him, Zeb thought. Or rather the creature who masqueraded as a spaceship, If he did not silence Redwolf, even his securing the handkerchief with Buffy's perspiration would not shield him from its wrath.

It was his fault. He should have been quicker. Should have used his gun...

No, because Megan was about. If she heard a shot she would have come to investigate... and he did not have silver bullets. But the spaceship could have dealt with her. And Megan would have fought back...

To many woulds... too may ifs.

It was the spaceship's failure too. She had failed to entice Redwolf, and then failed to kill him...

In any case, it was up to him to silence Redwolf now, before he recovered consciousness.

Redwolf could not be allowed to live. He knew more about the creature than he should, and he knew of Zeb's involvement.

Better do it now, while he was still unconscious in the hospital.

He could do it. He could come in and out of the hospital as he pleased, as he had consultations with other doctors, and a couple of patients... He knew the layout. One more doctor in a white coat would not be noticed in the ward. And he knew how to make it look like natural death... which would not be surprising after the burns Redwolf had suffered...

* * *

She would send Yolanda for this. She had been properly chastened, and was now eager to prove her devotion. She would be her eyes and ears, as well as her hands at a distance. And the power that Yolanda once held allowed her to peer into minds, if needed.

She would put Yolanda to guard Redwolf, because Laura would want to silence him at all costs. Yolanda could remain there, an invisible guardian, watch for those coming and going, and read their minds.

It was a good thing, Hallie thought, that she had tricked Yolanda into saying the words that bound into service. If not bound, she would have become an enemy, far more formidable than that pathetic drunk Robert Loomis.

So, up to now, all those she had killed, but one, were salamanders bound to her. She was ahead of the game. She did not risk Laura's fate when she realized that her math had failed her.

* * *

Iris knew that she needed a stiff drink. She did not like to think about Violet. In spite of all the reassurances she received, she felt guilty about her. And angry at feeling guilty. And guilty for feeling angry. And..

If only she could feel good about herself. But how could she? With her sister locked up, and she plotting to steak her child, and never mind that it was best for Peter, and that Violet had asked for it.

When had Violet gone wrong?"

* * *

Hallie sat by the fireplace. She felt the vibrations from Yolanda. Redwolf's fate was to be decided now. She had to keep him alive. She saw Yolanda. patiently waiting. And she saw the killer approach. While his demeanor seemed calm enough the storm within his mind showing his purposes.

She dived into his mind, looking into it for the one thing that would made him abandon his deadly task.

She found it. It as not difficult. It was bound with hi anger, and despair, and was at the bottom of his reason to deliver himself to Laura.

So she ordered Yolanda to change shape, and to make herself visible to the would-be murderer.

She would not tip her hand, as she had not done when it came to defeat Yolanda. Let the credit go to someone else, who would be accepted without question.

Zeb entered the room. Redwolf was lying there, hooked to machines and an I.V.

The I.V. made it easier. No needle tracks to explain. The drug would go into the I.V. feeding into his bloodstream.

"Zeb." he heard a voice behind him. "Zeb what are you doing?'

Zeb turned around.. 'Uncle Dave..."

That was the shape that Yolanda had adopted, and his words were to be the ones that Zeb would respond to.

"For this you went to Medical School? Is that what your mother raised you for? And the same drug that was used on me, too."

"Julia did it."

"Are you willing to pay the price she paid?"

"You do not understand."

"I do." And then Hallie found one more tidbit in Zeb's mind. "You want to destroy George because he was my lover."

"It is Barnabas who I want to destroy!"

"Because he is George's lover. That's what you can't forgive him."

"He murdered you."

"And now you want to become a murderer yourself And that is not what you cannot forgive him. You cannot forgive him telling you the truth about me.."

"It isn't the truth! It can't be.! It was George Brant' fault."

'He did not seduces me. I seduced him. Why is it so hard for you to accept that I was homosexual?'

"You were not! Never!"

"I was. Whether you like it or not."

"But... You were my uncle. I worshipped you. I admired you. I wanted to be like you when I grew up."

"And you think that I became homosexual so that I could embarrass you afterwards?"

"It is not that.."

"Zeb. It was true. You can't go on destroying everything in sight because I did not come up to the standards of your boyhood hero. You should act like an adult, not like a child that discovers that the world is not to his liking."

"You do not understand."

"The name for what you are is fag basher. An ugly word for an ugly thing. Others do it with baseball bats. You do with Laura Murdock's help."

"I serve a spaceship!"

"You serve Laura Murdock, the one who inspired Brant to beat you up when she took control of him."

"She hates Barnabas as I do."

"She hated me too."

"I have to do this!"

"You do not have to."

"I have to..."

"To obey Laura?"

Hallie watched this through Yolanda's eyes. She hoped that her illusion of Zeb's uncle was having an effect. She was using the knowledge in Zeb's mind, the knowledge he wanted to deny. She would make Zeb desists, and when Zeb later spoke of it, he would say that it was been his uncle's spirit who had made him desist. She just had to stay in character. And she stayed enough in character for Zeb. She had taken a gamble in saying that Laura had hated Dave Woodard. But not so great. A phoenix, destined to mate with human males, and using her sexuality to ensnare men could only feel antipathy towards a homosexual who was not affected by her power,

Zeb was wavering. She had chosen well. An authority figure that would serve to counterbalance Laura's influence/

Zeb pouted. "If Julia can get away with it, why can't I?"

"Yes, Julia got away with it so well, that you had Barnabas on his knees, begging you to take it out on him, if only you spared her. No, she did not get away with it at all. It is your choice, Zeb. For the rest of your life."

Hallie could see Zeb's resolve dissolving. She could read, his fears, his desires, his unacknowledged misgivings and give them back to him. One more little push..."

"Do this, and do not call yourself my nephew anymore."

That did the trick. Zeb's shoulders sagged. He seemed to deflate like a balloon.

"Look into yourself, Zeb."

Dave vanished and Zeb was left alone, with the drug.

"No." he said. "I will not do it. Laura can punish me for it, but I won't do it."


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

There was cunning in Violet's expression. And fear too.

"You mean that if I don't sign the papers, they'll keep me here forever?" she dared Brant to say it.

"No. Not really. But it would make it easier."

"Easier if I hand over my child to Iris?"

George sighed. Violet's mulish obstinacy was not making it easier.

"All right. No, we cannot keep you locked up here. But there are jails. We could prosecute you for Iris and Tammy's kidnapping. It could be done. Charges were never filed against you, so double jeopardy does not apply. Plus you are on record as a child abuser. Think about it, Violet, and make it easier on yourself."

'You can't make me give up Peter. And you can't keep me forever."

"No, we can't. But the difference between signing those papers or not is the difference between going home, or going to a jail cell, which, believe me, is not as nice as this room. Think about it. "

Now, on to the next problem.

Julia was waiting for him.

"How did it go?"

"I am wearing her down. She will eventually give in. She seems rational enough. It just that she hates Iris with a passion, and would do anything to hurt her... Are you so sure that she should be released?"

'Not. yet. But you are aware that hatred is not a mental illness."

"Yes. I am aware... How about Delia?"

"Delia is truly disturbed. She makes progress, but she has a way to go."

"Would Delia be an influence on Violet?"

"They have been apart too long. The whip[ is gone, and so is Delia's ascendancy over Violet. After all, she failed... In Violet's story, it is always Violet and Iris. The accomplished sister and the mousy one who stood back eating herself with envy."

"Well, I will be back. In the meantime, I have other business to attend to. I have to figure out what to do with that killer U.F.O. and I need you for this. "

* * *

"Zeb." we got to talk. "Jessica said. "About the way you are acting. You practically assaulted Mrs. Torrance."

"I know."

"And you are going to let it remain that way? Or are you going to get some professional help?"

"Professional help? You mean go to see Julia Hoffman, that murderous bitch?"

"She is not the only therapist in the world."

Zeb sighed. "If only what I had could cure itself by therapy...It is much worse."

"What you mean, worse?"

"I almost killed Harry Redwolf. Twice. I watched him getting burned and did nothing to help him... If Megan had not been there... And then I almost poisoned him in the hospital."

"Zeb!"

"I am in trouble, Jessica, serious trouble.. It has to do with the U.F.O.."

* * *

Comet's eyes haunted him. There was despair in those eyes. Raw pain. Did he want to hear, in Nunez' voice what that pain felt like?

Yet he had to give Nunez his voice back. It was his right, his God given right as a human being.

He took Comet down to the cellar, and proceeded with the transformation.

Comet let him do, as he laid apathetically. His sad eyes just stared ahead.

Smoke enveloped the dog, and when it cleared Nunez was there. He did not move. He laid curled in a fetal position, with sad apathetic eyes.

Barnabas helped him to his feet and carried him upstairs. He dressed him and laid him on the bed. Nunez just let himself do.

He let him rest and went down, to open the door to George.

George knew that something was wrong when he came in. "What happened this time?"

"I am afraid that I pushed Nunez too far." Barnabas said.

'Pushed? how?"

"Let me show you." he led George upstairs to see the prostrate Nunez.

"What did you do to him?"

"I took him to Munsungan. I took there so that he could see himself as he really was."

"Well, he did, and it seems that he is not as he imagined himself to be. And the truth hurts him too much."

"He does not respond."

"Well, give him time to recover. "

"And if he does not?"

"If he does not, you take him to Wyncliffe and have him admitted as a John Doe. He can be cared properly there.

"I can't take him to Wyncliffe."

"You can't take him anywhere else. Any other place you take him, if he ever snaps out of it, he'll tell more than he should."

"I can't take him to Wyncliffe."

"Why not?"

"Because Julia will try to kill him if he's under her roof."

"Why should she do it?'

"Because she hates the Fascist bastard. She tried it once, and I stopped myself in time. I can't guarantee she won't try again."

"Well, then I will give her a talking to. I will negotiate... You know, in certain things I can handle her better, mainly because I have no guilt issue with her - she has them with me... In any case, for now let Nunez rest. He may come out on his own. And if not, it can wait until we solve this . thing. Actually I came to draft you."

"Draft me for what?"

"Kenneth thinks that Davenport is being drained of his life force, as Urien was. And we need Davenport's knowledge. We are going to hook you up to him, as we did with Urien."

* * *

Hallie watched. She had saved Redwolf' life so that he could testify against Zeb King. But now his testimony might not be needed as things seemed to come to a head.

It now hinged on Davenport, now that they had realized that his life force was being drained.. She would watch as they tried to stabilize him, and get whatever information they could out of him...

She could give Davenport more strength, and nudge his memory. Just enough, until they learned that it was Laura they faced.

* * *

Julia injected the drug into Davenport' vein. "This will relax you." she said. "It will make it easier for you to talk."

"He's very weak" Kenneth said. "I hope that he can take the strain."

"Barnabas will help with that."

Barnabas was already lying down next to Xavier, ready to be hooked up.

"You want him to provide the life forces?" Kenneth asked.

"As he did with Urien. It worked once, it can work again. And the worst that can happen is that he gets cured."

"Well, as long as he does not try to offer a second opinion."

Julia smiled. "I think that he'll keep his opinions to himself."

Hooking Barnabas and Davenport did not take long. Barnabas had been through it before and knew what to do. He felt the tingling that came when the life force was drained off him. And for a short time, he would be free of his curse.

Xavier relaxed under the sedative, and the color was coming back to his face.

"Mr. Davenport... Xavier." Julia said. "Can you hear me?"

"I hear you."

"You spoke of a spaceship. Can you describe it?""

"It is not a spaceship. It is a fake."

"A fake? How do you know it?"

"It is what people expect a spaceship to be. A real spaceship would not look like people's fantasies. It would be different."

Kenneth agreed silently. Davenport was smart. He might be a kook, but he was not stupid.

"Can you tell us more abut it? Concentrate on it."

"It is... it is feeding off me. He reads my mind, so he knows what a spaceship is supposed to look like. I know it... I know it now."

George listened intently. This was important. He would need to hear every word of it.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

"Tell us more about the spaceship." George asked Davenport

"It is not real. It seems real, but not if you look closely. You can see that the edges are blurred, that its shape is not its true shape."

"We know about that. Can you tell us what is behind it?"

"I sense a mind... a single mind... a female."

"A woman?"

"Not really human. But a woman. And there is fire. I can sense that there is fire."

Barnabas and Julia looked at each other.

"Laura!" they said in unison.

"But she could not have escaped." Barnabas said. "I locked her well."

"Maybe she is trying to." We'll need help. I am going to call in Megan and Angelique."

"Derek too. We need to hook him to Xavier if I am going to be in the fight. If it is Laura, she will want to deal with me, and I will have to be the bait."

* * *

The spaceship was angry. He had not only failed. He had rebelled. Not only had he spared Redwolf''s life, but he had confessed to Jessica.

Zeb was afraid. What would the do to him? But he was also relieved. He had known that it was not right, what he was doing. Yet he had persisted.

Why had he been so blind? And what had he condemned Buffy to?

The spaceship would come for him. It was a bitter wait. He was young, too young to die. And why him? Why had it happened to him?

The spaceship hovered above his house. He grinned bitterly at it. He would not leave the house for it. Let it come to him.

"You have betrayed me!" the spaceship said.

"I do not trust you. I do not want to work for you anymore."

"And you told your wife about me. How dared you? You should have obeyed my orders. Instead you turned against me."

"I was told that your real name is Laura. That you are the same Laura who got me beaten up by George Brant."

"And what if I am, mortal? Mine is to command, yours is to obey. And you will obey me again."

"I will never obey you again."

"You will. And you will be punished for your disobedience, too."

A ray of light shot downwards, aiming for him. He waited for the burning, but it did not come. Instead he felt himself pulled upwards, dragged into the night and the hovering spaceship. He tried to fight it, but there was nothing that he could hold or strain against.

He was inside the spaceship. There was a seat and controls in front of him. He was thrown into the seat, and his hands were on the controls.

"I still need your services, mortal, so I will not punish you yet."

"I will not help you."

"For this once, you will obey still. I have the means to force you. I need your body, your hands, your ability to focus the power where it is needed."

The spaceship rose. There was another ray of light coming out of it, and Jessica hung in it.

"You see, Zeb. I can make you obey."

The spaceship moved, dragging Jessica in tow. He could see Collinsport under him. The houses looked so small. He glided on top of them. It was all his flying fantasies come to life. But this was no dream. This time there was no easing into sleep.

Jessica was now entering the spaceship. Jessica screamed and tried to fight Laura's pull,

From below the deputy that George had assigned to the Kings saw Jessica disappear. He took out his gun futilely. What good would bullets do?

Then, Jessica disappeared. He took out his walkie-talkie and told George of it. George cursed. They needed answers fast...

Jessica stared numbly at the walls of the spaceship. They she saw Zeb at the controls.

"Zeb!"

"She... she is pulling me... it is not me..."

"Enough!" Laura's voice reverberated on the walls. "We will do what we came to do. And if you disobey, she will suffer for it."

Suddenly there was a circle of small fires surrounding Jessica. She screamed as one on the flame came too close, singing her hair.

"Obey me, Zeb, or she dies."

* * *

Hallie kept watching. Laura _was_ fast. Even as a prisoner, she could tap into Davenport's life force and use it to project herself, and create an illusion that fitted other people's fantasies.

There was no control panel, no levers that Zeb could manipulate. What was there was a way to make Zeb concentrate the energy to where Laura wanted it to go...

She better be faster that Laura.

She saw how Derek had gotten with the others, and how they were hooking him to Davenport, while Barnabas got up and prepared himself for the fight...

Now, if she read Laura correctly, would be when Laura went after Buffy Torrance...

* * *

"I feel strange" Buffy told Frank.

"The baby kicked?"

"No. It is different."

"Different how?"

"I don't know. It scares me. I am scared. Something terrible is about to happen."

"You are getting anxious again. Didn't the doctor stay that there was nothing to worry about?"

"It is serious, Frank. There is something terrible happening... right now... Laura!"

"Laura?

"She is here! She's come for me!"

The beam of light burned through the window, crashing the glass, burning the curtains, and holding Buffy into a paralyzing grip.

She screamed as she felt herself being lifted. Frank ran to her, held her dress and tried to fight the pull. He too was lifted. His feet left the ground. He was flying...

No, not flying. Being reeled in, like a fish caught in a hook. They were pulled in by the light beam and made to go through the opening that suddenly appeared beneath the spaceship. And then they were inside.

"It is Laura, Laura." Buffy wailed "We failed her, and she'll punish us."

"Yes, it is me." Laura said "You have come back to me, my unfaithful ones. But it is only her that I need. You." she addressed Frank, I have no use for you, yet.

One small bolt of light and Frank collapsed, unconscious. Then a door opened and Buffy saw Jessica King enveloped by fire, and Zeb King sitting at what appeared to be controls.

"You have done well, this time. Zeb." Laura said.

Zeb gulped and avoided looking at Buffy. "Will you let Jessica go?"

"Not until this is all done an I am free. You know what must be done."

Zeb gulped and looked at Buffy. Then guiltily he looked away. He could not save both Buffy and Jessica. And he chose Jessica...

Buffy stared at him, aware that she was looking at her executioner. She could not hate him, because she had given herself to Laura once.

And Laura wanted her unborn child, as she had wanted Louella's

"She understands what he fate is to be." Laura said

* * *

Xavier's pulse beat more strongly now, thanks to Derek.

Derek felt strange, weak. And with a great yearning for chocolate...

Julia was aware that Laura drew strength from this. More power for her to tap into. But she could not condemn Xavier to death...

Yolanda glided into the room unseen and laid her hands on Xavier' forehead, letting him know what he must say.

Xavier made a hoarse sound "I see her!" he shouted "I see her now!"

"Is it Laura that you see?""

"She has Jessica, Zeb, Frank and Buffy. She plans to sacrifice Buffy to regain her freedom."


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

"She needs Buffy" Xavier told them "She is pregnant, and Laura wants to use her unborn child."

His voice was steady, quick, now that Yolanda was feeding the information into him. "Zeb is with him. She uses him to focus her energy."

"And I suppose that Jessica is there as a hostage, to ensure that he behaves as expected." George muttered.

"Yes. He had given himself to her, but he wanted to back off."

"I knew that he would get in trouble, sooner or later." George growled.

"What about Frank?" Julia asked.

"She does not want Frank. He just grabbed Buffy and would not let her go."

"And she will sacrifice Buffy." Barnabas said, as she once tried to sacrifice Louella.

"Yes."

Barnabas wondered grimly what chance they had to rescue any of them.

"We have to rescue them." George said.

"Yes. But not in the air. We have to go where Laura is going and fight her there."

"It is not easy finding it." Angelique said. "we just have to wait until the spaceship goes there."

"I could follow it." Barnabas volunteered.

"You could, but she could move in to another dimension, and you could not follow. We need to know where it goes and send you there."

Megan said nothing, When Barnabas went, she would follow, either as mist or in bat shape, She hoped to get there unobserved.

"Can you follow her, Angelique?"

"I can. She must be left alone, to think that she's gotten away with it. That will make her careless. Luckily it is night, and she is at her weakest"

"If this is her weakest, I'd dread meeting her at her strongest."

"Yes, you should."

Derek chimed in. "I am hungry. Can you get me a chocolate bar?"

"Chocolate?" Barnabas could not keep from asking.

"Bittersweet. With almonds. Please."

George laughed, a laughter with an edge of hysteria. "Derek, you are priceless. Well, as I do not seem to be of much use around here, I will go get it."

* * *

Hallie sensed Yolanda's wavering. Laura was draining off her energy, too. And the more she drained, the more she grew. Was she aware that it was more energy than Xavier alone could provide? Did she suspect that a trap was being laid for her? Yet she had to make Davenport tell as much as he could.

And they were right. Laura was at her weakest, while Barnabas and Megan were at their strongest..

And now Laura and her captives were shifting to another dimension...

* * *

"It is... between spaces." Davenport said.

"In another dimension?" Julia asked.

"Yes."

"Can you picture it? Can you give us an idea so that Angelique can track it?"

Derek munched on his chocolate bar. Barnabas felt slightly in awe of him. Things were always simple for Derek. Was he a vampire? Well, then he would use it to fix horse races. He was not? Time to pig out on chocolate... He envied him...

Angelique was concentrating, trying to follow the images in Davenport's mind.

"I got it. We can start now."

* * *

Buffy had been tied to a stake, and wood was piled under her feet. Just like in the good old days of the Inquisition.

The wood under her was the only one to be found around. Everything else, as far as the eye could see, was stone and metal. There were things that looked like plants, but they were metal, too.

Not a living thing around, except for them.

"You will die with the rising sun." Laura said. "In this barren place the sun shines once every ten years. And now the time for it has come. The sun will lit the fire, and consume you."

Buffy whimpered. She could not stop herself. It could not happen, not to her, not now...

"Zeb." she pleaded. "Don't let her do this."

Zeb looked away. He had no other choice. It was bad for Buffy, but what else could he do?

Frank stared numbly. He had been bound, too, and was now sitting next to Jessica, who was surrounded by flames.

"How can you do this, King?" Frank said. "You are a doctor, you are supposed to heal people, not help murder them."

"I have no choice" Zeb said in a strangled voice. "It is not my doing anymore."

"She is pregnant, you son-of-a bitch!"

* * *

"You are going now?" George said.

"Yes."

"Take this." he offered Barnabas his gun.

"I doubt that bullets will stop Laura."

"You may need to shoot Zeb. In the leg, to stop him from interfering."

Barnabas took the gun. "All right. I am ready."

Angelique traced an invisible pattern in the air. There was a light hovering over them, and it expanded into one big hole leading... somewhere else.

Barnabas stepped into it. Megan glided as mist clinging to him.

It was a strange place that he found himself in.

Angular. Bathed in a light that somehow did not come off right. The colors were off. You thought it was red, and then it was green, or purple, or no color at all.

Stone and metal. Plants made of metal.. And something standing upright at a distance.

He plodded ahead into that strangeness.

He finally made out what that upright thing was. Buffy tied to the stake like Joan of Arc.. And next to her Frank, He did not see and Jessica, or Zeb. His hand tightened on the gun.

"Barnabas" Buffy said. "You found us!"

"It is Laura!" Frank shouted. "She projected an image of a spaceship. She wants Buffy as a sacrifice to be able to free herself."

Barnabas tugged at the chains that bound Buffy to the stake They were strong chains. What were they made of?

Megan watched invisible to them. This was a trap, and Barnabas had walked into it. She suspected that the sacrifice of Buffy and her child might not be enough to free Laura. She needed to sacrifice a creature of the night. and she knew that Barnabas would come to the rescue..

"Where are Jessica and Zeb? "

"Laura took them away. Zeb... I don't know why he did it. I pleaded with him, but it was no use. Jessica is just a hostage."

The laughter came out of nowhere. Barnabas froze. He knew that laugher. Laura's laughter.

"You have come, Barnabas Collins. You have stuck your head into the lion's mouth. Very brave, and very foolish.

Zeb came out of the shadows, carrying a heavy cross in his hands, and before Barnabas could react, a bolt of light felled him to the ground.

He came to bound to the same stake as Buffy. Zeb had hung the cross from his neck, so that he could not move. He was effectively paralyzed.

"The sun does not shine here often." Laura said. "That's why my spirit was banished here when my heart was imprisoned. But even here, the sun shines at last. Soon it will reach the horizon and it will be day. Then I will break free as you two are consumed by the fire... You see, the sun will set fire to Barnabas, and Barnabas will set fire to the wood."

Megan studied the situation. She had to find the angle from which to attack and free Barnabas and Buffy.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Zeb wore a red floor length robe. It made him look like a priest - a barbarous pagan priest.

"This is all your fault" Zeb said to Barnabas "If you had not forced me to..."

"I did not force you into anything. You made your own choices." he pointed with his head to Buffy "Can't you at least let her go?"

"She did not keep her pledge. Neither did her husband."

"And you now do Laura's dirty work?"

"It was forced on me."

"Don't shift the blame for your bad decisions. "

"All right, it is my fault. Would you have me condemn Jessica to death?"

Megan had found Jessica. Breaking her free of the fires around her would not be easy. And while she was trapped, they could not count on Zeb. And she had seen what Laura's power had done to Barnabas...

If she was to pull it off, she needed to plan well where to strike next... If she could get Angelique to send her strength, or a diversion...

If she broke Barnabas free, then there would be two targets for Laura, not one. That might confuse her.

She should not try to break the chains, Barnabas had tried and failed. But the stake they were bound to was wood, it could snap...

Zeb had turned her back to the stake. That was her chance.

She flew at it, hoping that she was not seen by Laura.

She reached it, changed shape, and with a couple of blows shattered the stake. without its presence, the chains fell around both Buffy and Barnabas.

There was a shaft of light, but she was quick and escaped it, as she tore the cross from Barnabas; neck Buffy shrieked. as Megan caught her.

"You handle Zeb." she told him. "I will take care of her and Frank."

Barnabas fell on Zeb, and Zeb screamed as Barnabas bit hard on his throat.

Megan took Buffy to Frank and broke his bonds. "You carry her." she said to him. "I am going for Jessica."

Zeb had slumped to the ground. Maybe he had bit too hard, drunk too much. Barnabas did not care. He flew around, drawing Laura's fire away from Frank and Megan...

* * *

Hallie smiled. They had a chance. Unseen to both of them, Yolanda had come with Barnabas and Megan, and now she deflected Laura's beams. She wondered if she could do more without giving herself away. Well, let's see what Barnabas and Megan could do.

* * *

Zeb had to be carried.. Barnabas had not been gentle with him, and Zeb had not deserved it. Feeding with anger always carried risks. But then Zeb had asked for it... At least he would not make any more trouble.

Laura kept shooting bolts of light, witch continued to miss.

He looked for the opening from where he came. He could return the same way, and so would Frank, carrying Buffy, who was weak from Laura's bolt...

He hoped that Megan could bring Jessica, and that she did not end trapped there...

* * *

Jessica was still surrounded by small fires. Megan watched her, and hesitated for a moment. Those fires could destroy her...

Not if she was quick about it. Barnabas had once dived through a much larger wall of fire to get Willie out. She could do this.

She dove into the fire. Right choice, wrong choice. She would know if a few moments. If she was wrong, she would regret it, but only for the time it took her to burn.. not for long.

She seized Jessica, and jumped out of the circle of fire.

She let Jessica down, and as she did, small fires began forming around her.

"Move! Fast! We have to outrun them!"

* * *

"It is going to be dawn very soon." George said. "If they don't get back soon, Barnabas and Megan will be in real trouble.

"I can do something about that." Angelique said.

"Bring the coffins here?"

"No, hold the darkness inside this room. It can be done."

George did not quibble. She was the expert and he was the fifth wheel.

There was so little that he could do. Everyone else had a job here. Julia and Derek tended to Davenport. Angelique used that knowledge. Barnabas and Megan went to rescue the missing. And he... He brought in chocolate for Derek... He had given his gun to Barnabas, not that he expected it to do much good, but to feel he was doing something useful... but he knew if for the empty gesture it was... What good was a gun against Laura?

He was way out of his league here. He should not feel bad about it, any more than he felt bad because he could not sing well, nor do good weather forecasts...

But it was a kidnapping, something that he should be able to handle. Instead the passed the buck to friends and a lover, none on them wearing a uniform...

He was being silly and overly proud. How could he be expected to handle Laura by himself? He had done the sensible thing, which was to call the experts, and let them do...

Angelique had finally cast the room into darkness. When Barnabas and Megan came, they would not have to worry about the sun.

* * *

They saw the opening and sped towards it. Buffy had regained consciousness and was running next to Frank. Barnabas carried Zeb slung over his shoulder. Megan urged Jessica to keep running.

The flames around Jessica kept getting a bit higher. Jessica knew that if she stopped for a moment the flames would rise, trapping her.

Fortunately the opening was right there...

First Buffy and Frank fell through. Then Megan raced with Jessica. At last, Barnabas with Zeb...

They all screamed as they hit the floor. Fortunately it was not a great fall. Buffy and Frank picked themselves up...They looked at Brant, at Julia, at Davenport...

They were back in Collinsport...

Barnabas dropped Zeb on a nearby cot. There was fear in Zeb's eyes, but Barnabas was not in the mood to reassure him...Frank shot Zeb a poisonous look... It would not surprise him if Frank beat Zeb up sometime in the next few days.

Jessica was still surrounded by flames. Megan saw it and made her walk. "As long as you move, they cannot grow." she said.

George, trying to feel useful, tried to get a statement out of Frank and Buffy. Frank let out a stream of expletives before he recounted what had befallen all of them.

Angelique now sealed the opening. It proved hard, as Laura fought the closing.

Julia checked Davenport's vital signs. She did not know for how long he could hold on.

"Doctor, please call a judge of the peace, and a lawyer." Davenport said.

"Shh..."

"I want to marry Sandy. And make a change in my will."

"Do not think of that.."

"I have to. If I die, my children will get the Center. And they will do what they do with other businesses. Pick the clean, and pocket the money from the sale. I want the Center to go to someone who cares about it, who will not let it be destroyed."

George nodded. That he could do.

"It is closed," Angelique said. "Laura cannot come through anymore."

"But Jessica is still surrounded by flames." Megan pointed out.

"That's because she is still draining Davenport."

"Well Julia, can you do something about it?"

"Yes. We can try to do what worked with Urien and Nicholas."

"Nicholas was easy to scare. Laura will fight us." Angelique reminded her.

"Still, it is the only chance we have."


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Barnabas replaced Derek, since Derek was due for some rest. Being drained as he was could be very tiring, and it was better if they took turns.

The judge of the peace had come and Xavier and Sandy had been married. It was not the wedding they hoped, but it would do. Sandy kissed Xavier deeply and looked around to all of them.

"I know that you are fighting for him.. Is there anything I can do?" she had asked.

She had been made to walk Jessica and cheer her up. It was better that she kept busy instead of thinking how hopeless the situation was..

Xavier amended his will, and singed it, along with the witnesses, Derek and Brant

It was all done. "My kids cannot tear up the Center, now." Xavier said, sinking into his cot.

* * *

Severing Xavier's connection to Laura took work. And it was risky. Julia knew how risky it was. She hoped to keep Xavier alive, but if the only way to stop Laura was to let Xavier die, she would do it.

Xavier looked at her. "I understand doctor," he said. "do you best."

Julia avoided Sandy's eyes. She would never understand.

* * *

Zeb scowled, That was all he could do. Megan put herself between him and Frank. She understood how Frank felt, but this was not the time and place for what he wanted to do..

"This is all your fault, you realize." she said to him."

"Ha!"

""You were ready to kill a woman who had never done you any harm. An expectant mother. And you are supposed to be a doctor."

"You are another..."

"Another what?"

"Another pervert. You and Angelique..."

"So you were ready to murder Buffy Torrance to keep Collinsport safe from perversion?... It is good thing that your uncle is not here to see what a miserable failure you are, as a doctor and a human being."

"Don't are mention his name!"

"Why not? You have gotten a free ride out of the sheriff and Barnabas using his name. You re not getting any free ride from me.. " She pulled back her lips, showing her fangs. "And I will do whatever it takes to keep you from screwing up this badly again. Even if I have to kill you."

She fell on him, biting him hard. He fought her, but he was weak already. She did not take much. She did it mainly to impress on him how helpless he was, and how no one would lift a finger to help him. Jessica, still walking saw this but did not comment. She did not feel warmly towards him... If she made it though this, she would divorce him, the way she felt.

* * *

Frank and Buffy were talking to each other, comforting each other. Derek sat with George, looking with regret at the chocolate bar that he was not able to finish... Chocolate was so good... Why did he have to be deprived of it? Immortality without chocolate was not worth it...

Barnabas looked at Julia "How is it working?"

"Xavier's vital signs are holding up... I will try now to reverse the flow. Brace yourself."

A few minuets later Barnabas felt the strengthen go into him, the excess life energy that made him what he was... Now it was being drained off Laura, with Xavier in the middle.

It was now a tug of war. And should the strain be too much, should the link between them break, what would happen to Xavier?

But the link held firm. He could not detect any weakening. But even if there was, could he sense it? Wouldn't it just snap, catching them by surprise?

This had worked with Urien, but Laura was a different foe from Nicholas.

* * *

"My feet hurt." Jessica said.

"I know, but we have to keep walking" Sandy said. "It is your only safety until they cut Laura off."

"I know... You are doing your best... Why did Zeb do this incredibly stupidthing And why didn't I believe Sheriff Brant's warning? He said that Zeb was courting disaster, but I..."

But she had chosen, at the end, to stand by her man. And it had proven disastrous. She should have kept an eye on Zeb, should have spied on him, even... It would have prevented this...

So now she was surrounded by flames, that could only be kept from growing too large if she kept walking on her aching feet.

* * *

The tug went back and forth, worrying Barnabas. This was not as easy as it had been with Urien. Laura just did not scare. And she was older, knew much more than him or Julia about manipulating life forces... How could they hope to defeat her? Add that they were reluctant to let Xavier die, but Laura was not...

Yet it had seemed hopeless too that time when he had faced her with Guthrie's help. And yet he had prevailed... For all of Laura's age and experience, he had prevailed.

And Xavier would not be better off if they crossed their arms and did nothing.

But for how much longer could Xavier hold? If he was exhausted it did not matter. Megan or Derek would replace him. But no one replaced Xavier."

And if Xavier died, what would it do to Sandy She was finally putting her life together, embarking on a good relationship as an adult, as the adult she was supposed to be.

He was doing his best, he told himself. No one could ask more...

* * *

Sandy tried to hold her gloomy thoughts at bay, concentrating only on Jessica, and on her own aching feet. She was now officially Sandy Davenport... Not the wedding she had envisioned... and she may be soon a widow... Again...

No, they would find a way. They had to.

What grated it was how helpless she was. Nothing that she could do...

She wished she was still a werewolf,

But what good a werewolf do against Laura? Laura had no throat that could be torn...

* * *

"It is your turn, Megan. You come relieve Barnabas.

Megan put out her cigarette and walked to the bed. Before she was hooked she turned to Angelique. "Is there anything else that you can do?""

"I can, but it is too risky. If it gets to that, I will try it. But not yet."

Barnabas was unhooked and got up. He walked a bit unsteadily to where Derek was.

"What time is it?" he asked him.

"Can you believe it is noon? Never been up so late before."

Barnabas grinned at that, and at Derek's chocolate stained hands. Good Derek. He always had his priorities straight.

Brant had replaced Sandy at Jessica's side, and Sandy came to hold Xavier's hand.

"Sandy, they are fighting for me. All of them. But it might not be enough. If... if it happens, please do not blame them. They are my friends."

"I will not." she kissed him..

* * *

Hallie kept watching. She could bring it to an end soon, killing Davenport. She toyed with the idea. But there was no urgent need yet, and it was better that they thought that it all hinged on their efforts, with no outside help whatsoever. Also, Davenport's gallantry touched her... Strange to feel sentimentality about this, but she was still quite human yet...


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

"I'll reverse the flow again." Julia said. "I am starting another tug-of-war."

It was like fishing, reeling in the fish, giving it enough line. But which one was the fish, which the fisherman?

And how much more powerful did it make Laura to be able to drain not just Xavier, but the vampire hooked to him? Powerful enough to escape?

She looked at Barnabas, at Megan, at Derek. Did they know what they were risking? Barnabas and Megan, maybe. Derek... Poor Derek.

The flow had been going strong into Laura's direction, and Megan was looking sickly. Was that because she was staying late? The sun could not reach them, true, still it _was_ daytime when they should all three be resting..

Julia took Megan's pulse. Weak.

"I am replacing you." she said. "You need to recover. And feed. I do not think that Frank would mind. Nor Sandy."

Derek was next. He had had the foresight to bring some of his own supplies. And the chocolate that he ate while hooked also helped. He was the chipper of the three. And probably the most oblivious as to what was really happening.

Megan staggered as she walked, and Frank had to hold her up. "Come, feed." he urged her. "You deserve it."

Julia knew that the moment was coming when she had to decide who could be saved and who had to be abandoned. Triage. She could not let Laura kill the vampire, because that would make her too powerful. But Xavier... Xavier might have to be a casualty...

But not yet... not yet.

She would now try violent jolts, pushing then pulling the flow. Those might be powerful enough to release Laura's hold on Davenport. Whether or not Davenport survived...

And Angelique also prepared for the worst. There was a way to stop Laura, one that might doom Davenport. She was ready to use it now. She did not want to face Laura in this plane again.

One jolt, Davenport shook. Another. One in the opposite direction..

...If only he could replace Davenport with Zeb... At least he would be deserving it...

She felt shame at the thought.

A couple more of jolts. If Davenport could hold.

"Julia!" Barnabas shouted "The equipment!"

It had caught fire. Reflexively, Kenneth pulled the plug of the machine.

When they put out the fire they looked at Derek and Xavier. They laid side by side, not moving.

* * *

It was over. And Laura was sealed in her prison again. This last Hallie accomplished while they were putting out the fire. She used that fire to strengthen Yolanda and made her seal the conduit. Laura would not drain Davenport nor anyone else.

Now she could sit back and enjoy the spectacle...

* * *

"Look!" Jessica shouted "The fires!. They are dying down!"

They were. They dwindled and dwindled until they were blown off and were not more.

"This means we have won." George said. "Laura's beaten again."

Barnabas moved to the table where Xavier and Derek were laying. "Are they?" he asked.

"Xavier's breathing." Julia said. "Irregularly, but he's breathing." she took his pulse. "And his pulse is beginning to stabilize. He took quite a beating."

"We all did." Barnabas said.

"Yes." she sat down. "It is over. Over... And my patients survived... I thought that I would lose Xavier... that I had to abandon him..."

"Well, it did not happen. W fought and we won. I wish I could be more ecstatic. But all I am is tired."

"You should be. You are way past your bedtime."

"Yes." he smiled..

"Do you know what happened?" Megan asked. "When I saw the fire, I thought that it was all over, that we had lost."

"That made the flow snap clean. It was a tug of war and the rope broke. Both sides were thrown apart, and this caused the opening to seal itself. "

"It was dumb luck, then. Well, luck does not need a Ph.D. to be welcome.. Not by me." she shivered. 'It was a close call. How is Derek?"

"His eyes are fluttering. He may get up in a few moments."

Derek opened his eyes. "What happened?"

"It is over, Derek. You can get up. And no more chocolate for you."

"I feel... giddy. This was worse than a rollercoaster."

"Well, it _was_ a rollercoaster. You were very brave, Derek."

He shrugged. "Please, don't call me that. You do and I believe it, and then I take stupid chances. I have more sense than to be brave."

Julia took his hand to help him up. She frowned, puzzle.

"What happens?" he asked.

"Your pulse... it is normal."

"Normal?"

"Normal for a human being."

"What?"

"Let me check on you. If I am right, you may be eating chocolate for a long time."

The tests were quick, but conclusive. Derek was human again. And, thanks to the break in the flow, there was no link between him and Xavier. Nothing that affected Xavier would affect Derek, and vice versa.

"You are no longer a vampire, Derek. "


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

"You do not seem happy" Barnabas told George.

"It could have been you instead of Derek."

"But it was not. And Laura's been defeated again. She cannot escape. Buffy's going to be all right, and Zeb will think twice before getting in trouble again."

"I know."

"That's a lot to celebrate."

"Yes. Of course. But why Derek? He does not even appreciate it. It is unfair. What good will it do to him? It makes not difference to him, except that now he can go to the horse races. Nothing much will change for him. While you... it means everything to you."

"No. Not everything. Not anymore."

"I know how much you wanted it in the past. How much you still want it? Why had it to be him the one hooked to the machine?"

"We did not get hooked to free ourselves from our condition. We did it to help Xavier and defeat Laura. We did it. If Derek got the side effect, let him enjoy it."

"But Derek... What could it mean to him? He'll go on making the same stupid mistakes, getting into stupid trouble, just like before. His skin will break out from too much chocolate. He will come with a get-rich-quick scheme that will not quite work..."

"George, It does not matter so much to me, not anymore."

"No, I know you do, I know how desperate you were in the past."

"I was desperate to get back all that I lost... I wanted my family back. I wanted life to go on as before... I wanted..."

"And now?"

"Now I have a family again. I have a position in society. It is not the same, but it is a position. I have work that I learned to love. Work that it easier because of my... condition. I have people I love and who love me. And, tell me the truth, aren't you glad, when someone is missing, to be able to call me, ask me if I have taken blood from them, and then use it to find them? You know that I have done quite a while of it. You never used Derek for that."

"No., but still."

"Look, Derek risked his life. And he had no reason to. Davenport was Megan's client, and he is my friend. It was natural that we helped out. But he came just because we asked him to. He did not complain. He just pigged out on chocolate... I stood next to him when they unhooked him and he still had an unfinished chocolate bar. His eyes were so sad, that he could not finish it... Well, let him enjoy it. He's earned it."

"Yeah. I guess."

"So we can concentrate on other matters. Like what to do with Nunez."

"We have to, don't we?"

"Yes. we do."

"No change in him?"

"No. Still staring numbly ahead. I thought that he would snap out of it."

"Maybe it was too much at once... You took him to Munsungan.. what did you expect him to do?"

"Help him face himself. I... I had gone thought the same... it was the first time I confronted Dave face to face... It hurt but I came through..."

"And you thought to have Nunez confront Norma."

"Yes. And the rest."

"But it proved to be too much. He did not have much to fall back on when he understood that his life and beliefs were based o lies... You did, and that's why you came out OK."

"You are telling me that he might not recover... I am beginning to suspect that."

"It might have been too soon to take him to Munsungan... I do not know. I feel bad because I kept badgering to do something about it. And you did something. And probably screwed the poor bastard for good. It is my fault."

"It was my decision."

"I will take him to Wyncliffe."

"Julia might want to kill him. "

"So you said. But I think that I can get around that."

* * *

Barb Fister accepted the paperwork that Megan gave her.

"Carolyn Collins is ready to talk. You'll have to negotiate with her. These will help you decide how to proceed and what to ask for."

"Are you coming?"

"No. My part is done. If you want a union, if you want better conditions, you will have to fight for them. I am not going to be pulling rabbits out of hats. "

"We may still need you"

"You need to rely on yourself. This is your cause, your fight, and you should be doing it. It is your turn in the limelight."

"But you may help out."

"Well, there will be times when you can hire me. But I think that you can handle yourself."

"By the way, how did you get her to agree to meet us?"

'Well, it had to do with helping her recognize that dumping her personal drama on people that work for her is lousy personnel management. She will still fight you, but she'll keep her personal life out of the bargaining table."

"Thank you." she stopped "Will you be here when we do it?"

"I am going out of town. You have to rely on yourself, and if I am not here, you won't be tempted to call on me when things get tough."

Barb left and Megan stretched. She wondered about Derek and how he was handling his new found humanity. Probably meeting a bookie... There was not much difference between a human Derek and a vampire Derek.. So it was probably for the best that he had been the one to be free of his condition. The transition was easiest for him.

She knew that Angelique was unhappy. It should have been someone else cured. Her or Barnabas? Given Angelique's past tempestuous history with Barnabas, she was not sure what Angelique would choose... In a way it was best that it was Derek. If it had been one of the other two, Angelique would have been conflicted, thinking it should have been the other one... No, better that it was Derek.

And he deserved it.

* * *

Laura was a prisoner still, with no hope of escape. Not for another ten years, at least. And by then, she, Hallie, would be a full fledged phoenix, having offered her firstborn to Ra. And David too. She would take him with her to fulfill his destiny

And if Barnabas tried to interfere, she would kill him.

But not yet. Not until she had grown more powerful.. Until then, she should continue posing as an innocent bystander to whatever happened.

The sounds of a scuffle distracted her from her thoughts. She looked to see what was happening.

Frank Torrance was beating on Zeb King, who tried to defend himself, but weakened by the bleedings he had been subject to by Barnabas and Megan, could not retaliate effectively.

The arrival of George Brant put an end to the scuffle.

"He assaulted me." Zeb complained. "I was just minding my business."

George turned to Frank. "You assaulted him, as he claims?'

'He.. you know what he did."

"Did you assault him?"

"Yes."

"Well, you got right to a free one. This one is on me."


End file.
